Jungle Kids
by Sagittaria sagittifolia
Summary: AU: Sometimes even dangerous jungles full of wild animals are better than the reality. Prompts in Panem-Day 2 Dreameverlark Day 2: Rats Warning: Character Death, thoughts about death


Summary: Sometimes even dangerous jungles full of wild animals are better than the reality. Prompts in Panem-Day 2 (dreameverlark, rats)

Warning: Character death, thoughts of death

AN: 1)not an english native speaker w/ no beta so sorry for the mistakes. 2)all characters belong to Suzanne Collins 3)I´m still a newbie in the whole writing gig trying to understand to get my thoughts on paper.

Jungle Kids

Katniss

It´s dim and air feels heavy with rain. Dark green foliage is all around us and we have to search a way through all the plants. I can hear the monkeys scream in the distance and the rain drops falling on the leaves. And then, really faint I can hear the roar of the panther. The hunter of this jungle, the danger of this region, our enemy. We are on the hunt, on a mission.

Me, Katniss 10 years old hunter extraordinary and my faithful assistant Rue, 9 years old.

"Do you see her?" asks Rue. „No, but she can´t be far." I pull an arrow on my bow moving slowly to the corner. This jungle is full of danger and the most dangerous is the panther. But me and Rue will find her and kill her. We have to, for the other kids. The panther is cruel punish us for such ridiculous things like, the light was on too long or we laugh to loud. It´s my responsible after all because I´m the leader of our little group.

We sneak through the narrow paths in the underwood, avoid the chairs, beds and other things in this jungle.

And then I see her. The panther. The monster of our jungle.

She calls herself nurse Enobaria. She stands with her back to Rue and me, talking/stalking nurse Delly, the jumpy bird. Always chirping, expect when the panther or the sly snake, nurse Cashmere are there. The bird looks nervous in the low light. And the panther ready to attack.

I hide behind a wheelchair bend my bow, aim and shoot.

Bullseye!

My arrow hits her directly at the back of her head. Sadly it is not a real arrow just one with a suction pad on one end. The panther twirls around. An angry look on her face. I hide behind the wheelchair, wait till the panther gets in one direction in search of the attacker. I run out to Rue who waits behind a corner. As fast as we can we run back to our base.

"You got her Katniss! You shoot the panther!" Rue laughs full of happiness. "Yes" I answer scowling "but she still lives. And now she is angry." The smile vanishes from Rue´s face.

The monster of the Panem hospital is still alive, still making our lives, our stay here a nightmare. We reach our base, running through the swinging doors with the words "Child´s station" on them. We have to be in our beds when "nurse Enobaria" comes in checking or we will be in so much trouble.

I reach my bed throw my bow under the pillow and climb in. Rue´s bed is on the other side of the room in the big round room with 12 beds in it. Only 8 occupied at the moment. I can already hear the angry stomp of the panther outside when I pull my blanket over me and not a second later the swinging door is thrown open, nurse Enobaria standing in it searching the room for a source of the attack. Her dark eyes look around but don´t find anything.

A supreme hunter like myself would not be traced. She stands for an eternity in the door and then finally leaves. I release the breath I was holding. Next time I will beat her. I will end her ruthless reign.

I sigh. I know that I´m not really in a jungle. I know that this is not a big adventure.

But it is so much easier so. I don´t want to be Katniss the girl with the illness, that prevent me sometimes to breath. The girl that maybe will never grow up or have children of her own. I want to be Katniss the great huntress that beats everyone with her bow and arrows. Someone that can solve every problem in the whole wide world. Someone that can out run every danger and illness. I just want to be a normal 10 year old girl. Maybe someday it will become true.

I see a movement two beds over. The new kid, Peeta something he looks at me. He arrived in the station 5 days ago. I can see his eyes in the low light of the overnight lamps.

He stares at me. Again. I caught him more than once in the last days doing it. And then the one time he found me singing in my secret spot. NO ONE is allowed to hear me sing. He looked so strange at me after that.

He has osteosarcosomis or something like that. He has to get the puke therapy.

That is what we call it, because when you get the medicine you have to puke.

All .the. time.

And you will lose your hair. That makes me kind of sad because he has nice hair, all blond and shiny. But he irritates me with his staring so I do what every hunter extraordinary does. I stick out my tongue, turn around and try to sleep. Tomorrow I have to make new plans to hunt down the panther.

Peeta

Dear diary,

Today was the 4th day of my chemo therapy or puke therapy as the other kids call it here. I´m no longer in the big room with the other kids but in a side room, for a few days till the first round is over. I feel really bad.

I´m ill and sleepy all the time and everything hurt. I hate it.

The doctors say I have to go through possible 3 cycles and then if my blood looks good they will make the operations.

I still cry when think about it.

I still remember the day they said I have an osteosarcoma in my left leg. They explained all this things about my illness, but the only think I could think about was that I just had a pain in my leg and that they are wrong. I just hurt my leg somewhere and it will go away. It is a fault and that there will not be an amputation or possible metastases in my lungs and that I possible will not celebrate my eleven birthday.

I want to wrestle like my older brothers and play soccer with my friends. I don´t want to lose my leg but dad says the doctors have to cut it off or I will die.

I don´t want to die.

Sometimes when dad thinks I`m not listening I hear him and the doctors talking about "remission" or a "relapse", about "survival chances" and "preparing for the worst".

He always cries after this.

My type of cancer is dangerous the doctors told us and rarely. Many metastases can be already in my body, they said. But I´m lucky they said, after a few tests, because they only found the one tumor in my leg.

So I will only lose my leg.

It is still bad enough, I think.

Dad also cries when he thinks I sleep. I wish I could comfort him. But I´m afraid so much already and my head hurts from all the thoughts about my future I imagine.

Dad bought me you diary, 'to get your feelings out' he said. Doctor Aurelius (he is a head doctor, I talked with him after they found out what was wrong with me) also said it could help me to "sort my thoughts and feelings about my future."

I think they don´t understand that I don´t want to think about it.

The people are nice here, expect this one nurse. Enobaria.

The other kids call her panther because of her dark hair and her sharp teeth. She is a predator, hunts down the children and the other nurses.

I saw her screaming more than once at kids who broke the rules. Her rules. Which are dumb and the kids hate her. They do everything in their power to chase her of, especially the girl with the dark braid.

Her name is Katniss.

I know her name because I asked Rue. She is the leader of the others and she has a toy bow with arrows with suction pad at one end.

She is really good. She never misses a target. She was also the one that came up with the name panther.

And she is really beautiful. She has really pretty eyes and on my second day here I heard her sing. I swear the birds stopped to listen. I have never heard something so beautiful.

She has no cancer. She has mucoviscidosis and she was already really often in the hospital. Sometimes she has problems to breath and then she has to put on a mask.

I wish she becomes my friend but she doesn´t talk much. So I don´t know anything about her and don´t know what to say.

She always scowls when she sees me watching her.

I think she hates me.

Katniss

Mommy and Daddy were here a little while ago, together with Prim. I showed Daddy how good I become with my bow. He was so proud. "You are becoming better than me Kitty-Kat" he said.

Now they are back home. I miss them but the doctors said I can go home in a short while. But short while always means a long time.

At the moment I try to make a better arrow for my bow, so I can hunt the panther. She made Levy cry yesterday. But I can´t really concentrate because HE is again staring at me.

I huff and throw everything on my bed beside me. I can´t work this way.

Why does he just sit there and stare at me?

His first round of puke therapy is over and he gets better each day. That is the reason why he can sleep again in the big room. The doctors said it is good for him because so he can play with us, but I will not play with him. He smiles all the time. That is so strange.

I hear a giggle from Rue´s bed. I smile. She didn´t feel good in the last few days.

I´m afraid. Her cancer is so strong.

Annie sits beside her. Annie is already 15. She had to get her appendix out and she will go home tomorrow. I wish I could go too, but then I would miss Rue.

Because I can´t work anymore on my weapon I go over. Maybe they play with me.

Rue´s face is grey, she has big circles under her eyes and fallen in cheeks. Her parents are more often here than mine at the moment and they are always sad and they speak long with the doctors. Her Mom cried yesterday really long.

I think it is bad. But Rue still smiles.

"What are you doing?" I ask them when I reach Rue´s bed. They look up. Annie makes room on the bed for me. "We write a letter" answers Rue. Her voice is so small. "What letter" "A love letter "giggles Rue. Annie´s whole face lit up. "RUE!" she whispers loudly and give her a small punch.

"But it is true!" Rue says. She looks at me. "We write a letter to Finnick. Because Annie likes him soooo much!" she says with a singsong voice and starts to laugh.

Finnick is a medicine student. He smiles and flirts with all the nurses even the panther. They love him, expect Nurse Enobaria, she just looks nasty and go away.

I found him annoying. He always tousles my hair and calls me 'sweetheart', like Doc Abernathy. One time I even try to bit him. My Mummy was so angry with me. Next time I try it when my parents are not visiting me.

"Okay" I say. "Can I help?" To be honest I´m not really interested to write a letter to Finnick, especially a love letter but it is better than to just lie in my bed doing nothing and feeling the stares of Peeta Mellark.

So we work for a little while together, whispering, ribbing Annie about her crush and just having a little bit fun when the door to the station was thrown open.

"What is going on here?" screams Nurse Enobaria. We all freeze. The panther is angry. Really angry, something bad will happen.

"What are you three doing there? It is sleep time. Why are you not in your beds."

"Nurse Enobaria" starts Annie, she is not here as long as Rue and me and still doesn´t understand what kind of devil this woman is. "We just write a letter. We are quite and don´t disturb the others, really."

"I´m not interested in your explanations Miss Cresta, there is a rule that all patients have to be in their bed at 10pm at the latest. Every negotiation for an excuse is pointless. I would say that you and Miss Everdeen leave this bed and go to your own, RIGHT NOW!"

Annie stands up and walks to her bed, her head hanging low in her hand the letter we worked on, but I don´t pull away I stand up and push on my tiptoes to my full height. I´m the leader I will beat her.

"I don´t understand why we have to sleep at 10pm. We were quite, and Annie is almost 16 she is old enough to stay up longer. You are just mean."

She watches me for a minute or two but it feels like eternity. "Miss Everdeen" her voice is calm and silent, that is never good. Why didn´t I just shut my mouth. Why do I always have to try to be so strong.

"I think it is time that you change to another location. I think your attitude needs to be put down. Your behavior aggregates all the other patient. It is better if you get separated from them. A single room on the east station would be perfect."

Oh god no, please not.

This can´t be real not a single room. No one to speak too. Left alone the whole day. Caged in the room.

Not in the east station. They shut out the lights at night in the east wing.

Totally alone in the dark.

I´m afraid in the dark and she knows it.

She KNOWS it!

She hates me. She can´t hit me but there are so much more horrible punishments. Tears begin to gather in my eyes. I can see this monster starting to smile. She loves it.

Why? Why always such things happen to me?

A crash comes from the other site of the room. Peeta´s stands beside his bed and is trashing things from his bed side table around the room. "I hate it here! I want to go home. I hate this place. I hate everyone!" he screams. Nurse Enobaria runs over to him, grasps his arm and starts to scream at him.

I run to my bed and hide under the blanket. He´s done it on propose. I know it. He was done it because he wanted to distract her.

He would never act like this. Not the nice, friendly, soft spoken Peeta Mellark, that always smiles, always follows the rules and everyone loves. Now I just hope Enobaria forgets about me.

After 10 minutes and many treats from the Panther it becomes silent again. The Nurse stomps to the door. "And now I want absolute silence in this room. IS THIS CLEAR?" She hits the light button and dashes out.

I don´t turn around because I can already feel his look on me. He will be punished for this. And it is my fault because I couldn´t shut up. Because I tried to play the hero. Be someone else then I am. I own him. I hate to own someone anything.

Rue starts to coughs terrible. She has lung cancer and her health is getting worse, I´m so afraid. They found new tumors in her lung. She is my best friend in the world. My hunting partner here in the Panem Hospital jungle. She has to get better. I don´t know what I would do without my partner.

I wish we were really in a jungle. And I am an extraordinary huntress and all illnesses, my mucoviscidoses and Rue´s cancer are bad animals I could hunt.

Everything would be so much easier in a jungle.

Peeta

Dear diary,

Today is a really sad, sad day.

It all started yesterday. Katniss, Annie and Rue were sitting together on Rue´s bed writing something and giggling. It was so nice to hear Katniss laugh. She laughs so rarely.

Her laugh is almost as beautiful as her singing. And then Nurse Enobaria came inside. In the time since I´m here I've learned one important thing about Nurse Enobaria.

She hates children and especially Katniss Everdeen.

I don´t know why maybe because she hunts her with her bow and arrows or because she didn´t follow any of her rules or protect the other children especially the smaller ones, from her but I never see someone hating another person this much as the panther hates Katniss.

She started to scream at the three and ordered them back to bed but Katniss, the brave Katniss, stand up for herself and the others and said no. The Panther become quite and then said to Katniss that she will be getting a new room, a single room, in the east wing.

The east wing is a horror place. I heard frightening things from this place. Crueler Nurses than the panther. No desserts, no night lights, no games and nobody there to talk to. Absolute isolation.

I could see how tears were gathering in her eyes and Enobaria started to smile.

And then I've done something dumb.

I started to trash my things. I just wanted her to be away from Katniss. So I screamed around and throw my pencils through the room. The Nurse came to me and after a few minutes and punishments she put on me (on TV, no dessert and no time outside in the Hospital garden for me anymore) she left the room. Katniss was already lying in her bed.

And then Rue started to cough. First it ended after a few minutes, even it sounded horrible. But a few hours later, I think it was around 3 am I woke up because Rue started to cough again and this time it sounded even more horrible.

The night doctors came running in after an alarm started at her bed. They brought her outside. Everyone was awake. Katniss was sitting up and she looked so frightened.

1 hour later a doctor came in and told us that Rue has died. There was water in her lungs and they couldn´t do anything anymore for her.

Katniss broke out in tears and Annie tried to calm her down. But she just pushed her away and run out of the room. Dr. Heavensbee the night doctor told us to let her alone. It would be better.

But I couldn´t.

So I waited before no one locked my way and followed her. I knew where she was. In the empty room with the great view, the room I found her the one time I heard her sing.

She was sitting on the floor her head pushed into her knees, crying. Slowly I sat down next to her. I didn´t touch her. Didn´t said anything. And after a while she just toke my hand.

"Thank you", she said in a small voice. "For what" I asked. "That you distracted the panther from me."

"You are welcome" I answered her.

And so we sat there for hours.

I think I found a new friend.

Katniss

Rue died 5 days ago.

Her parents token her things with them and now her bed, her table and her wardrobe are empty. Annie is also away. She was released the morning after Rue´s death. She visited me but it was strange to talk with her. It was like a piece was missing.

Peeta was by my side the whole time. Didn´t said he was sorry or tried to calm me down or console me.

He just sits next to me.

After a day I asked him to tell me a story. And so he started to talk. About his parents, his brothers the bakery he grow up. How his father showed him how to make sugar cookies and how he loved to play soccer.

On the second day I start to tell him about me. About my parents, my little sister Prim and her new kitten Buttercup. I talk about my daddy teaching me to shot with a bow and arrow and that I wish to be a huntress, living in a jungle, have adventures every day, to be a normal girl who doesn´t have to go to the hospital so often. He tells me he wish he could just go home and bake and play ball with his two legs.

On the third day he starts to talk about his illness and I start to talk about mine. He tells me that many people don´t live long with his kind of cancer and I start to cry, afraid to lose my new friend.

I tell him that most people with my illness will not getting to be old and he starts to cry, afraid to lose me.

We cry for the rest of the day.

On the fourth day after Rue´s death he starts to ask me more about the jungle Rue and I created here in the Child´s station in Panem Hospital. And together we invent more things about the jungle and run around, me with my bow, he with a sketchbook and pencils saying he has to document our findings and experience new adventures together.

He draws pictures of our adventures (he is really good) and every time I praise him he smiles his big smile.

And I start to feel a little bit better.

Peeta

Dear diary,

Rue died 2 weeks ago. It was hard in the beginning. I missed her. Katniss missed her more.

We started to speak with each other, told us stories and invented new adventures and dangers in the Panem jungle. I was her helper and she the brave huntress sneaking through the jungle and fight against the bad guys. She even showed me how the shoot an arrow.

3 days ago I had to start my second round of chemo therapy. I had to puke again and now even my hair started to fall out.

I was so shocked that I started to cry.

Katniss was with me the whole time just holding my hand. She said it was not so bad and I looked fine and that it was just hair. That I was still Peeta, assistant extraordinary to the great huntress Katniss Everdeen. I had to laugh so much after this that I stopped to cry.

I met her parents and her sister and she met my family. We played with Prim and my brothers. Mister Everdeen talked about plants that you could eat and I tried to draw them. My dad brought her cookies and desserts.

And three days she will go home. I`m making her a goodbye present. I hope she will like.

I will miss her so much dear diary. She has become my best friend in the world.

Katniss

I miss Rue. I miss her every day. She died 2 weeks ago and I´m still crying sometimes. When I have a really bad nightmare I sneak to Peeta´s bed and wake him. Like the one where the old woman that brings us the meals (Peeta says she is from a small town called District 4) transformed into a large rodent and gnawed on my face. We then hide under his blanket and he tells me stories till I can fall asleep again.

He is a great story teller. And he is a great friend.

3 days ago we were even celebrating. The doctors told him that they do not have to cut of his leg. He was so happy. I gave him my pudding. The panther still don´t allow him dessert.

Today I will be released and I´m afraid. What if the nightmares are coming and I can´t talk to him? I want to stay. But I know I can´t do that.

"Are you ready Kitty-Kat" ask my Daddy.

"Yes. I just have to say bye to Peeta."

I run over to him. He sits at a table and draws. He is so good.

"I have to go now Peeta" I say.

"Wait a second" he didn´t even looked up.

The tip of his tongue was pointing out of his month and he was furious sketching. After a while he stops to draw lay his pencil down and looks up. His smile was full and with both hands he hold out the sketch he was working on a minute ago.

"Here" he says. On the paper is a jungle, with trees, vines, monkeys and in one corner is a girl with a braid and a bow and she hunted down a black panther.

Next to her is a blond boy and a girl with wild dark hair cheering.

Me, Peeta and Rue.

I´m speechless. I just look up. Feeling tears again springing in my eyes.

"Peeta" I start "Thank you" I hug him and whisper "I will miss you" he hugs me back "Me too."

I let him go and turn around. Walking back to Daddy, who waits patiently. When I reach him he gives me my back bag and my bow.

The bow I used to run with throw the corridors with Rue and hunt down the panther. I turn around running back and fall again in Peeta´s arms.

"Here" I give him the bow. "Keep it. To remember me." And then before I lose my nerve I give him a kiss.

He turns scarlet and I hurry back to Daddy. He is smiling, takes my hand and we leave the Child's station.

I´m sure I will be back again. No way around it because of my illness. I just hope I will see Peeta again and we can run through the jungle together and experience new adventures.

The jungle is so much better than the hospital.


End file.
